Category: Uncategorized

JUDGE PUTS MAG BAN ON ICE

12.15.2022

Today a Judge in Harney County issued a preliminary injunction against the magazine ban in Measure 114.

In a previous hearing on Dec 13th the court  put a hold on the “permit to purchase” portion of the bill and promised a ruling on the mag ban by tomorrow, Dec 16th.

The ruling came today and means that for now, your standard capacity magazines are safe.

There will still have to be a complete trial on the constitutionality of the measure, but at the moment the permit to purchase and the ban on standard magazines will not be allowed to go into effect.

The Court has granted a hearing on December 23 for the state to explain why the safeguard which allows the transfer of a firearm after three business days (if the Oregon State Police do not complete a background check or issue a denial) should be removed.

Considering  the vast number of people who are currently being denied the ability to take possession of the firearms they have paid for, as a result of the OSP’s inaction on background checks, this should be a tough hill to climb for the state lawyers.

The battle continues both in this statewide case that Gun Owners of America has brought and the four other cases that are in Federal Court. But this is more good news and another win for GOA.

 

 

114  STILL ON HOLD

 

12.13.2022

Today’s hearing on Gun Owner’s of America’s suit against Measure 114 in Harney County keeps all aspects of the measure from going into effect, for now.

The Judge again ruled that the non-existent  “permit to purchase” scheme cannot be enforced because it’s essentially vaporware, even though the Oregon State Police have an “application” online and the Oregon Sheriff’s Association is offering an “online” class to get a permit.  (For $60.00, and you can throw in a few extra bucks and get a decal.)

The fact is, neither the application or the class mean anything since there is still no way to complete the live fire mandates of the measure. So, the mess created by Lift Every Voice Oregon continues to leech across the state like an overflowing septic tank.

Thousands of Oregonians remain in limbo unable to take possession of firearms they have paid for and the Oregon State Police can still not answer any questions about what happens next. (Go ahead, ask them a question…)

The magazine ban the state is salivating to impose is also still on hold. though the Harney County Judge did note today that he expects to have a decision about that by Friday.

In today’s lengthy hearing, the judge did not sound impressed by the State’s arguments and their star witness had to admit that the framers of the Oregon Constitution were aware of firearms which had a capacity of over ten rounds and never made any attempt to limit the number of rounds a person could have.

The state’s position that nothing is protected if it was not available in 1859 seemed especially comical to the many people who were watching the proceedings, and commenting, on their… computers.

While we are pleased that GOA’s suit has thrown sand in the gears of the state’s tyrannical and rabid effort to disarm the law abiding, the reality is that the “queue” of people waiting for their property is growing and barely moving.

Oregon is still a laughing stock for the rest of the country and regardless of the claims of the state, people’s rights are being denied right this minute.

The four federal suits (including ours) continue and the legal bills are still mounting.  We can still use all the help we can get. But for today, the point goes to Gun Owner’s of America for another win.

You can support our federal case here:

https://oregonfirearms.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/70447/Default.aspx

Donations to the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation are tax deductible and every penny goes to the legal battle in Federal Court. Thank you.

 

Whiplash

12.08.2022

If you are experiencing the symptoms of whiplash, you are not alone.

The saga of Measure 114 is moving so fast and taking so many unexpected turns that keeping up is nearly impossible, and, in fact, most in the media have not been able to.

As you know, last Friday a Federal Court in Portland held a hearing on our lawsuit against Measure 114.

At the same time a similar suit brought by Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition was also heard.

Last Tuesday Judge Karin Immergut ruled that the measure could go into effect.

This meant that probably millions of standard magazines and countless shotguns would have become contraband today.

She also ruled that the arcane and unworkable “permit to purchase” scheme could go into effect although she gave the state a comical 30 days to get it up and running.

That was the bad news.

Just hours later a state court in Harney County, in a case brought by Gun Owners of America, reached the exact opposite conclusion and placed a temporary hold on the measure.

The anti-gun  “Department of Justice” immediately sought to overturn that ruling and went directly to Oregon’s Supreme Court with a request that the Harney County Judge be overruled and the temporary hold be removed so the measure could go into effect.  They said it was “a matter of life and death.”

Somehow, the state claimed, if Oregon continued to operate under rules and laws that had been in effect for decades, the streets would run red with blood.

The Oregon Supreme Court was not buying it and refused to overrule the Harney County Judge. This all happened with lightning speed.

A trial on a permanent injunction is scheduled for Dec. 13th in Harney County. While no one could have predicted any of this, we have reason to believe that it will go well. This is a link to the Harney Courthouse. https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/grant/Pages/default.aspx
We have been informed you can watch the hearing live using the webex link at 9AM. We have not tested this.

But, just as in our Federal case, there will still be a long way to go. It’s unlikely that we will get a final answer on whether 114 is constitutional for some time.

That is the case in both the pending State and Federal cases.  But for now, because of GOA’s suit, Measure 114 is NOT in effect.

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the implementation of Measure 114. It was invitation only, and while the State Police were invited, apparently the Sheriffs were not. Of course, while the State Police get to make the rules, it’s Sheriffs and local police who get this garbage can dumped in their laps for enforcement. No wonder they weren’t invited.

To no one’s surprise the hearing answered exactly no questions. The State Police did say that an application to get a “permit to purchase” would be available online today. And it is. But there was virtually no information on any of the many questions about how anyone could actually comply with this horrifically poorly written law.

The OSP could not say if all of the personal information required by the measure would be public. (The measure requires it.)

They could not say what would happen if a person pawned a gun before the measure went into effect and tried to retrieve it after the measure went into effect. Could the owner have the magazine as well as the gun?

They could not say what would happen to firearms sitting in police evidence rooms that had to be returned. Could those be returned with the magazines?

The OSP said they had no database set up to collect information but would do it “in an excel spreadsheet.”

Their website says:

(4) Permit agents may designate permit agent responsibilities only to other Oregon law enforcement agencies and only as follows:

(a) Local police chiefs may designate permit agent responsibilities to other local police chiefs or the Oregon Sheriff having jurisdiction over the residence of a person making an application for a permit to purchase; or

(b) An Oregon Sheriff may designate permit agent responsibilities to a local police chief having jurisdiction over the residence of a person making an application for a permit to purchase.

So the local cops can dump this in the sheriff’s lap and the sheriffs can dump it in the local cop’s lap. You can imagine how that would go.

The good news is this nightmare is on ice for the time being. That gives gun owners, and dealers, and Sheriffs a bit of breathing room, though the backlog of people waiting to take possession of things they paid for is still insane.  And of course, if it takes the OSP more than 30 days to issue an approval, even if one is given, the buyer goes right back in the queue of almost 40 THOUSAND people.

The bad news is we have a LONG way to go to drive the final stake in the heart of this monster.  If you can help with the skyrocketing legal bills, we would be very grateful.

Both OFF and OFEF are fighting this battle but all tax deductible contributions to OFEF, the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation go to pay for the lawyers.

Please visit this link to help. And thank you.

https://oregonfirearms.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/70447/Default.aspx

For more information on donations to the separate organizations please visit this link:

https://www.oregonfirearms.org/join-support-off

12.05.2022

Late yesterday Oregon’s Attorney General sent a request to the Federal Judge in our lawsuit against the implementation of Ballot Measure 114.

In her letter she asked the judge to delay the permit portion of the measure for a short time.

While this was a tacit admission that her chief lawyer (who assured the Judge on Friday that the permit system would be operational by Dec 8th) was, at very best, transparently and comically deceitful, it does little to address the problem.

It is becoming abundantly clear to all that Measure 114 is little more than an overturned outhouse dumped in the laps of law enforcement by the bigots at “Lift Every Voice.”

However this request by the criminal protection syndicate that controls Oregon is not even a bandaid on the massive hemorrhaging the state is promoting.

The Attorney General is still demanding that all other elements of this dumpster fire go into effect on the 8th of December

As OFF’s lawyer Leonard Williamson has pointed out:

“The AG is mistaken in that Plaintiffs challenging the magazine ban are not affected by their request to postpone implementation of the permit to purchase system.  Presently OSP has 34,790 people waiting on the background check list waiting for a firearm, that they have already paid for, to clear the system.  Some % of those sales are firearms that included as part of the sale standard capacity magazines (large capacity) e.g., the Glock 19 comes with three 15 round mags).  Meaning if the ban on magazines takes effect on 12/8/22, and the permit system is suspended, the gun shop owners can not allow the customer to leave with their standard capacity magazines i.e., an unlawful government taking of property without due process.  Second, what the government is saying is that gun dealers may only sell guns with magazines that only hold ten rounds.  That is a very small group of firearms.”

It is absurd to assume gun dealers are going to remove the standard magazines that come with most modern firearms and dispose of them and hand their customers worthless firearms with no magazines.

And as we have repeatedly (and pointlessly) reminded the ventriloquist dummies in the cartel media, even if the court complies with the AG’s request, most shotguns will still be illegal to transfer (or take out of your home assembled if you already own them).

As you know, after the Department of Justice’s lead lawyer, Brian Marshall, insisted that a process would be in place to issue permits, the people who are tasked with actually doing it publicly announced that his announcement was purely fiction.

The Oregon Sheriff’s Association has made it clear that it is simply impossible to provide the mandated training which is required before a person may even APPLY for the fairy dust “permit.”  Imagine how much  worse it will be for small municipal police agencies.

Furthermore, a delay in the implementation of the arcane and onerous permit system does not address the backlog of over 30 thousand Oregonians who are being denied their rights even now.

What the criminal protection syndicate, and the cartel media, refuse to acknowledge is that if people who are waiting for background check approvals have to wait over 30 days ( a very common reality) an approval does not allow them to take possession of their property.  They must start the whole process all over again, complete new forms at the gun store and get back in line.  This could put people in an endless “Groundhogs Day” nightmare loop. And that does not even consider the fact that many people are actually moving backwards in the line as persons with concealed handgun licenses are put in the queue ahead of them. And since 114 eliminates the rule allowing for transfers after 3 days if the police don’t complete a background check or issue a denial, even that safeguard disappears.

We are eagerly awaiting a decision by the judge, which may come as early as today. But until then we have no illusions that the Attorney General is engaged in anything more than a head fake.

To add to the chaos, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on the implementation of 114 for Dec 7 at 8.30 AM. There is no telling what a Democrat controlled legislature will do to make this worse.

 

 

12.01.2022

Tomorrow is the scheduled court date in our lawsuit to stop the implementation of Ballot Measure 114.

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. Second Amendment Foundation, with Firearms Policy Coalition, has filed a second suit in Federal Court  and Gun Owners of America has filed a friend of the court brief in our case.

The SAF suit essentially mirrors all of the arguments and points we made about the impending magazine ban.  They do not discuss or argue the permit to purchase .

While it’s clear that we consider the magazine ban a significant problem with Ballot Measure 114, we strongly oppose the permit to purchase requirements as well. The amicus brief filed by GOA does a good job of further explaining how that element is both extremely damaging and unconstitutional.

There is really no way to predict what will happen tomorrow and it’s unlikely that we will have an answer from the court before next week. And, of course, the clock is ticking on the complete shut down of gun sales on December 8th.

As you know, the current background check system is in near collapse, and while some transfers are taking place, over 30 thousand people are in limbo waiting for approvals (or any response) from the State Police.  It is impossible to imagine that any of those people will be able to take possession of the firearms they have paid for if Ballot Measure 114 goes into effect.

The State Police, as you can imagine, have no plans or rules in place to implement the onerous restrictions that 114 imposes on law abiding Oregonians, and sheriffs and police chiefs across the state are faced with the impossible situation of having to provide “permits” that do not exist. Meanwhile tens of thousands of Oregonians have had their rights eliminated BEFORE the measure has gone into effect with no reason to believe there will be any kind of resolution any time soon. So, the outcome of tomorrow’s hearing is way beyond critical.

But for right now, we wanted to take a minute to express our gratitude for every single person who has sacrificed and given so generously to this effort. It is an understatement to say that there are simply no words to convey our thanks.

While the suit filed yesterday by Second Amendment Foundation is being funded by large corporate donors such as Patriot Ordinance Factory and Oregon’s Radian Arms, we have no such benefactors. Every dime of this extremely costly effort has come from people like you, individuals, small dealers, gun clubs, and local collector’s organizations. While we certainly would have welcomed the help of companies like Radian when we were the first to jump into this fight, (and the fight at the ballot box) we will always be in debt to you, the people and small business of this state. (And a few other states.)

We also cannot sufficiently express our thanks to the individual sheriffs who have bravely stepped up to either officially join our suit or express an intention to join.

Sheriffs Brad Lohrey of Sherman County, Cody Bowen of Union County, Brian Wolfe of Malheur County, Gary Bettencourt of Gilliam County, Chris Kaber of Klamath County, Mark Garton of Polk County, and Terry Rowan of Umatilla County have all demonstrated unusual courage and. If you live in one of their counties, you are fortunate to have sheriffs who honor their oaths.

Our legal team has been working on this non-stop and have put aside many other commitments to present the best possible case. Because of the last minute introduction of another lawsuit in the same court, we now face even more unknowns.  Of course the minute we know the outcome you will too. 

It has always been our policy to respond to donations with formal “thank you’s” as quickly as possible. As you can imagine, we are a bit behind on that and appreciate your patience.

But, right here and now we wanted each one of you to know how deeply grateful we are for your support.

 

 

Vote

 

10.21.2022

We have now concluded the third of our “debates” with the proponents of Ballot Measure 114.

If you have not received your ballot in the mail it should arrive soon.

One thing has become clear about the proponents of the measure, they cannot defend what’s in it and they cannot answer a question.

Instead they prefer to divert the conversation into meaningless and rambling diatribes about, well, we don’t really know what they are about, except that it has something to do with equity. Or something.

Here are the links to the three debates or “interviews” as the case may be.

The first one is with Portland’s far left newspaper “Willamette Week.”  Some time after this debate, we were shocked (shocked I tell you) to see they endorsed the measure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzR2lZW7Fm8&t=281s

The  second is with the Portland “Oregonian”, Portland’s other far left newspaper. As with Willy Week, after this “interview” the Oregonian endorsed the measure. Once again, who would have ever imagined that an aging, far left “newspaper” would have done that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT3U-dSA22Q

In this interview, Mark Knutson, who runs the “church” that has collected thousands and thousands of dollars to promote firearms confiscation, accused OFF’s Kevin Starrett of anti-semitic racism.  For those who are wondering why, this is the page he is referring to:

https://www.oregonfirearms.org/michael-z-cahana-memorial-page

The final debate was presented by the Portland City Club and moderated by Fox 12 TV in Portland.  As a side note, the Eugene City Club invited OFF to debate Mark Knutson. A date was set and agreed upon. Shortly before that date, the Eugene City Club emailed us and disinvited us with no explanation.  The Salem City Club extended an invite to debate but no one from the other side agreed to.

While OFF would have eagerly accepted any opportunity to debate Knutson one on one, he was …not available. So we accepted the Portland City Club where it was only two on one to keep it fair. Neither of our opponents actually had anything to do with writing the measure. Those folks prefer to stay in hiding.

That debate can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MxTFRXviCM

Maybe the highlight of the last debate was the closing moments when we got to ask the proponents a question. We think you’ll be amused by their answer.

Ballots are hitting. Oregonians have legitimate concerns about the integrity of our voting systems. We strongly recommend you NOT mail in your ballot but take it to your county clerk yourself. Early voting does allow for potential mischief, so you may want to consider not sending in your ballot right away. But you MUST vote. Your rights and safety are on the line.

Special bonus video.  https://rumble.com/v1oxdqa-make-this-go-viral.html?mref=6zof&mc=dgip3&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Charlie+Kirk+Show&ep=1

 

Ballots will be arriving soon. We wanted to give you an update on Mz 114 and our efforts to defeat it.

Currently we have radio ads running in most parts of the state. Our thanks go out to Sheriff Brad Lohrey for his help on one ad, and Damian Bunting for producing the second one. (You can see the video from Damian’s ad here.) Our efforts to buy time to run his video on digital platforms were turned down. So we are running it as a radio ad.

The Stop114 committee produced and distributed thousands of “No on 114” signs around the state.  Thank you to everyone who requested one. We are sorry we could not fill every request.

We have too many volunteers to thank for their efforts getting those signs transported, distributed and placed. After this is behind us we hope to be able to thank each one individually.  And for everyone who just took action themselves, getting the word out, producing and distributing their own signs and buying ad time, we can’t thank you enough.

At this point we have completed two “endorsement interviews.” These were basically debates at Willamette Week and the Oregonian.

As of today we have seen no articles or the video from the Willamette Week* interview but you can see the Oregonian debate here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT3U-dSA22Q

The follow up article is available here. 

We have not seen either paper actually take a position yet. But it is interesting to note that this measure is so extreme even the Democrat Party refuses to endorse it. And for that you can thank some diehard Democrats who refused to be bullied by the extreme left and insisted on sharing the truth.

As you might expect, other cartel media outlets have endorsed it and it will come as no surprise that proponents are lying about the measure every chance they get, including in voter pamphlet statements.  There ought to be a law…

But the fun is not over yet.  On October 21st OFF will be debating the proponents of this measure at the Portland City Club. Oregon Firearms director Kevin Starrett will debate Deschutes County DA John Hummel and NAACP’s Eugene President Miles Pendleton.

Hummel, by the way, has his name attached to one of the voter guide arguments that contains a blatant lie. No surprise there.

Hummel has made the hilarious and preposterous claim that the live fire requirement in the measure can be satisfied by pretending to shoot a gun. No, really. And this guy prosecutes people. (Unless those people make false allegations against gun owners and then he protects them. Look up the outrageous case of what happened to Shane Morgan in Bend after being falsely accused.)

In the Oregonian interview Hummel claimed the measure was “perfect” even though the people who drafted it and promoted it have repeatedly admitted it has to be “fixed” by the legislature. Even though it is so badly written that it refers to Oregon statues that do not exist. And even though one of its drafters has admitted that not only does she know nothing about firearms, she also admits to having irrational fears of them. (An admission she made while serving on the committee that drafted the “explanatory statement” for the measure ironically enough.)

Pendleton, the NAACP President, has repeatedly stated that he does not believe people should go to prison for committing crimes. Most recently he shared that position in the Oregonian interview. Of course, while Measure 114 does create a whole new category of crimes, and it does make criminals out of good (formerly) law abiding Oregonians, it does not contain one single word about actually punishing people who commit crimes. But none of the laws attacking gun ownership ever do.

Missing from the Portland City Club debate will be Mark Knutson, the fraud in vestments who poses as a man of faith while pushing a measure that will publish the names and addresses of rape victims. This is a disappointment. We’d love to have the opportunity to expose this creep again.

Knutson likes to start his speeches talking about the army of volunteers who helped get the measure on the ballot. He never mentions the almost $200,000.00 dollars he spent on paid signature gatherers who lied to people to get them to sign the measure. He also does not talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have received from Kate Brown, the ACLU, Gabby Giffords, the Oregon Education Association, Nurses United etc. The National Eduction Association threw in half a million.

As you can imagine, we were not exactly competitive in the fund raising department. 

The Portland City Club Debate will be on ZOOM.

If you would like to watch it, the City Club has provided this link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5816645532275/WN_2SdGlBoaToSX6aMOwMHOmw

Here is the flyer they provided for it.  Ok, they are not graphic artists. We’re not judging…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KQEN interview.

Please visit and share stop114.com and thank you for all you are doing.

*UPDATE  Willamette Week has endorsed the measure.

Video of the interview can be viewed here.

10.10.2022

Showtime.

Ballots are arriving. You may be disgusted, you may be frustrated, but you must vote.

All indications are that Ballot Measure 114 is very close.  If this passes we will face a long time and a lot of money to defeat it in court.

Make no mistake, it will be defeated. The proponents know it, the Secretary of State knows it, and the media knows it. But why should they care? When it comes time to fight it, we get to pay for our lawyers and their lawyers. So please get your friends and family to fill out those ballots and bring them to a “secure” drop box or directly to your elections office.  Do NOT assume the Post Office will deliver them.

114 is the most extreme anti-gun effort in the country. If it passes, we see no way for most gun dealers to survive while the legal battles get sorted out.  So every single vote is going to count.

In other races, there is no question this has been the strangest election we have ever witnessed.

The Republican Caucus (the people already in office) have done everything in their power to torpedo good, independent thinking, candidates. They have gone so far as to threaten candidates OFF supported and recruit opponents to principled, pro-gun candidates.  In short, most Republicans in office, and their hired lackeys, have done all they can to assure that strong candidates have no chance.

After Republican House “Leader”  Vikki Breeze Iverson, had her consultant husband attack OFF as a “fringe group” who should be ignored, we received a request for money from… Vikki Breeze Iverson.

Meanwhile the Republican Party has done little but sabotage any effort to accomplish anything positive by continuing to allow the most destructive people to hold party office and attack the few who actually ever did anything.

The Governor’s race features three liberal women. And while everyone agrees that a Tina Kotek victory will mean a rapid acceleration of Oregon into a complete dystopian nightmare, it’s impossible to tell which of the other two choices is the least bad. We cannot support either of them.

The following are candidates for the legislature who we believe truly want to make a difference and are not in the pocket of the greedy failures currently in office. If you are in their districts they deserve your support.

For Senate:

Kim Thatcher District 11

John Verbeek District 17

Kim Rice District 18

Ben Edtl  District 19

For House:

Jason Fields District 26

Sandra Nelson District 27

Gina Munster Moore District  29

John Woods District 34

Greer Trice District 36

Rob Reynolds District 41

James Hieb District 51*

*Hieb certainly screwed up. But from the moment he was appointed to the seat vacated by Christine Drazan, the Republican Caucus did all it could to undermine him. That has to count for something.

You can view voter guide statements here.

https://oregonvotes.gov/voters-guide-military/votersguide.html

10.04.2022

The Media Is Lying And Losing

We have what we hope will be good news on Ballot Measure 114.

In spite of massive spending by the leftists who are promoting the measure, a poll published by the Oregonian shows support from only 51% of Oregon voters.

Why would that be good news?

Well, if you read the whole story the Oregonian published, it’s clear, that just like the rest of the cartel media, they are doing everything they can to deceive Oregon voters about what the measure does.

It’s safe to say that the poll is as slanted as the article was and even with grossly biased polls, massive spending, and endless deception by the media, there is not overwhelming support for the measure. And with a margin of error of 4%, it looks even worse for the extremists who are attempting to destroy civil rights.

In spite of gifts of $100,000.00 from Gabby Giffords, $50,000.00 from the Oregon Raindrop Fund, $48,000.00 from the “Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety”, $20,000.00 from the “Nurses United Political Action Committee”, $10,000.00 from Kate Brown, $10,000.00 from ACLU and others, they have still not been able to fool most Oregonians.

But make no mistake. The media is completely in the tank to pass this measure and they are not going to let up any time soon.

This quote from the article demonstrates how misinformed people who answered the poll are:  “Mark Magee, a voter in Southeast Portland who participated in the poll, said he supported the measure because he feels there are too many “over-the-top weapons” out there.”

Unless Magee considers common sporting shotguns to be “over the top” weapons his comment makes no sense when discussing this measure.

After a lengthy interview with the Oregonian “reporter” who wrote this article, even after she was fully informed that the new “rules” were impossible to comply with, that the police oppose this measure, that there is NO cap on the cost for required “classes” (that virtually no one will be able to give) that this will have a devastating effect on low income communities, destroy youth shotgun competition, and put countless small shops out of business, she absurdly stated “Opponents call the measure an overreach that doesn’t guarantee adequate funding from permit fees to pay for the required classes and the database, among other objections.”

And that highly biased comment does not even make sense.  “Permit fees” won’t pay for the required classes.  People trying to exercise their rights will pay for the required classes. That is if any are even available.

The pattern is clear and has been since this measure made the ballot.  The legacy media has, and will continue to, do all it can to hide what this measure actually does. It’s so extreme even the Oregon Democrat Party has refused to endorse it.

Police from across the state oppose it and with every new court decision it becomes undeniably clear that it will, if passed, be declared unconstitutional. Eventually.

But that fight will take years and millions to battle through the Kate Brown controlled courts.  So it’s essential that we beat this atrocity at the ballot box.

Please share the https://stop114.com/ website with everyone you know. Whether they are gun owners or not, voters need to be informed about how dangerous and extreme this deceptive measure is.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this fight with donations and volunteer efforts. You are making a difference.

09.20.2022

As you know, Oregon is facing a ballot measure which will create the most extreme restrictions on firearm’s rights in America.

The cartel media is all in on promoting this measure as a simple “permit to purchase”…  a “minor inconvenience to keep people safe.”

In fact, this measure will make it almost impossible to purchase a firearm in Oregon. Not only will gun buyers be locked out, it will essentially destroy gun dealers as well.

In the last few weeks the proponents of this dangerous measure have ramped up their fundraising and now have raised considerably more than we have.

With the media in the tank for them, they will not have to spend much on spreading their message, while we have been forced to spend a lot.

An excellent video produced for us is being denied digital distribution because it “involves guns.” Of course it does. It’s a gun ban ballot measure!

That has forced us to confine our media buys to radio.  We are in the process of acquiring yard signs and expect have them available at the Albany Gun Show this weekend. 

Please visit the Stop 114 website.   It is essential that we share this info with as many people as possible.

The media is doing all it can to mislead Oregonians about what Measure 114 does.  The STOP 114 website contains vital information and downloadable fact sheets to share.

You can make a much needed donation to fight the gun grabbers here:

https://stop114.com/donate-to-stop-114/

The elections are coming. The gun grabbers are determined to make sure people cannot protect themselves even as the police no longer respond to violent crime. Please help us stop them.

Share the site and donate to https://stop114.com/

Thank you.

08.05.2022

Ballot Measure 114.

As you know IP 17 is now Ballot Measure 114. It has been approved for the November election.

The measure essentially ends the sale of all firearms in Oregon for the foreseeable future and bans the sales of most shotguns and all standard capacity magazines forever.

Possession of those items outside your home will be a criminal offense. If you are caught in possession of a standard capacity magazine INSIDE your home you will be required to prove that you had it before the law went into effect.  There will be no presumption of innocence.

You could be charged multiple times for possession of the same magazine.

You will need a “permit” to buy any firearm which will require a class that may only be taught by police, which virtually no police agency will be able to provide, and all your private information will be in a published database.

The “permit” this measure requires does not even allow you to purchase a firearm. It includes an Oregon State Police background check that has no time limits and permits any kind of investigation police agencies choose to dream up.  If you can somehow actually get a permit, it only allows you to attempt to make a purchase with another mandated background check that can take literally forever.

While clearly unconstitutional, if it passes, virtually all gun stores will have no ability to actually sell any firearms until the unfunded permitting system is created. Many police agencies have said they see no way to comply with it.

We have created a PAC specifically to fight this extreme and dangerous measure.  Please visit and share the Stop 114 website for details on the measure and a downloadable fact sheet you can share with you family, friends, and local gun dealers. https://stop114.com/

Official Fiasco Status

08.05.2022

There are two items of importance in this alert.

First, now the Salem Keizer School Board is planning to place their students in danger by banning self defense and lawful firearms possession on their property.

Please take a moment  to contact them to oppose this dangerously foolish policy.

You can view their agenda here.

https://salkeiz.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/school-board/agendas/sb-agenda-20220809-en.pdf

You can send a message to the school board using this link:

https://alignact.com/go/protect-our-schools

Your contact information is required to make sure the system is not abused. It will not be shared.

Second, today the “Explanatory Statement Committee” on Ballot Measure 114 (the gun ban initiative) met to consider public comments made about the proposed statement.

The statement is supposed to be a simple and understandable description of what is in the measure.

The proponents of the measure, once again, demonstrated mind blowing ignorance about every aspect of how firearms work and current law.

They insisted that a person could meet the requirements to “fire” a gun in a classroom. They also continued to completely deny the fact that most shotguns will be outlawed under the measure.

One backer of the measure stated the she was “terrified” of firearms and had a visceral reaction of fear to them. Yet, in spite of her admitted, irrational behavior, she dominated the conversation on what the statement should say.

There was far too much nonsense in today’s hearing to recount, but some things were particularly outrageous.

The committee decided to include, in the explanatory statement, that “Concealed carry license holders may qualify…” for the proposed required permits to purchase.  This is flat out false.  There are no CHL classes that would qualify for this permit. Not only do CHL classes typically not cover state and federal law, but they are rarely taught by police and most classes don’t have live fire components.

(One proponent of the measure actually objected to the word “grandfathered” because it was “gendered language.”)

Whenever the opponents attempted to point out the obvious flaws and misrepresentations in the proposed statements, the proponents demanded that they “move on.”

The committee has not yet voted on this version. If they do not agree on the version they worked on today, the version that was made public previously (which received hundreds of objections) will be printed in the voter’s guide

In short, it’s obvious that the explanatory statement will be nothing more than a state sanctioned effort to mislead the voters in an effort to pass a very dangerous ballot measure.

You can help us fight this absurd attack on constitutional rights and common sense by donating to our Political Action Committee.

https://oregonfirearms.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/70447/Default.aspx

If you prefer PAYPAL there is a donation button on this page:

https://www.oregonfirearms.org/join-support-off

Thank you.

07.26.2022

Yesterday, the “Explanatory Statement” committee met and adopted a proposed “explanatory statement” for the voter’s guide for IP 17, now ballot measure 114.

This, as you know, is the measure that will virtually end the sale of firearms in Oregon.

As expected, the deck was totally stacked. The only statement even considered was the one drafted by the proponents of the measure.

Neither of the opponents of the measure voted to approve the draft but the committee was weighted against them so it was adopted.

The proposed statement is a total fraud, as it was intended to be. It is intentionally misleading and contains outright falsehoods.

There is still time to send in your objections to this obvious attempt to mislead voters.

We have attached a copy of the draft statement so you can read it for yourself, but we’ll point out some of the more egregious elements.

First, no matter how much the proponents tried to hide it, the measure outright bans most modern shotguns. Period.  Tubular magazines on most shotguns are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of certain ammunition. Therefore they will be banned.

The proponents attempted, lamely, to argue that shotguns were exempted because of  the exception for “lever action firearms.”  And no matter how much the opponents attempted to clarify that “lever action” is not the same as “pump action” the proponents insisted that was simply “argument” or “speculation.”  And clearly it is not.

Tubular fed, semi-automatic shotguns were not even discussed. The language they did insert in the statement only confuses the issue more.  Under the section “Regulates Large Capacity Magazines” they state: “ Particular application to certain firearms set forth in measure.” Whatever that means.

The measure requires that if you already own a “large” capacity magazine, you may only remove it from your property to go to a range or hunting trip. But it must be unloaded and removed from the firearm and locked separately from the gun. As anyone with a tubular fed shotgun knows, this is not a matter of simply pressing a magazine release and requires disassembly of the firearm.

The measure allows you to keep magazines you already own, if they don’t leave your property, but you can be charged with a crime if you cannot prove you owned them before the ban.  Under the measure, it becomes your responsibility to prove your innocence. And, of course, nothing prevents you from being charged again and again for the same magazines since conventional magazines contain no identifying marks.

The proponents also included a clearly false description of the database police will keep on anyone applying for a “permit to purchase” a gun.  Their statement says: “Requires State Police to maintain electronically searchable database of permits, information is exempt from public disclosure.”

But the plain language of the measure says the State police shall annually publish, the required report. There is nothing in the measure that exempts the report from public disclosure.

The statement also misleads voters by suggesting that the live fire requirement in the mandated classes for the “permit to purchase” can be completed with “hands on demonstration of basic firearms handling” by the instructor, when in fact, the student will need to be firing the gun. And of course, since you would need a gun to demonstrate that you could load, unload, and fire it, and you can’t buy a gun without the required permit, first time buyers will have an almost impossible hurdle to overcome.

The whole statement was designed to confuse and mislead voters and is totally unacceptable .

There is still time to send your objections to the Secretary of State. The committee is scheduled to meet again to consider objections.

You can email your objections to:

elections.SOS@sos.oregon.gov 

Talking points:

The explanatory statement is seriously flawed.

The statement refused to acknowledge that most modern shotguns will be banned under this measure. That is NOT speculation.

The statement falsely claims that the database of gun permit applicants is exempt from public disclosure. That must not be allowed to remain in the statement.

The statement ignores the lack of training facilities or people qualified to provide the training. This is a critical element of the measure.

The statement misleads voters about the live fire requirements.

The statement ignores the complete lack of funding for this expensive measure.

The statement fails to clarify many mandates that will be created later by the Oregon State Police without public input.

The flawed, proposed statement can be seen here.   

(https://www.oregonfirearms.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Proponents-draft-Explanatory-Statement-7-26-22-002.pdf)

Yesterday’s entire (painful) meeting can be viewed here. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/mediaplayer?clientID=4879615486&eventID=2022071017

07.25.2022
Last week we asked you to send comments to the “Explanatory Statement Committee” about the content of IP 17, the gun ban ballot measure.

Now, thanks to the request of one Republican and one Democrat legislator, there is another committee that needs to hear from you.

As noted by the Secretary of State:

The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) received a written request from a member of the Legislative Assembly from each major political party requesting a racial and ethnic impact statement pursuant to ORS 137.685 for Initiative Petition 17 that is related to crime and likely to have an effect on the criminal justice system. The CJC is responsible for preparing an impartial, simple, and understandable statement explaining the racial and ethnic impact. 

To submit written public comments, please email them no later than July 28 at 10:30 AM to  elections.sos@sos.oregon.gov.

The Secretary of State will hold a public hearing to receive testimony on the the racial and ethnic impact statement for IP 17 .

UPDATE 07.27.2022  The in-person meeting has been cancelled. Remote only now!

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Thursday July 28, 2022 Register to attend online via Zoom Or attend in person: Large Conference Room, 2nd Floor Oregon State Archives 800 Summer St. NE Salem OR 97310

Basically the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission needs to hear from the public about the potential impacts of the ballot measure on different racial communities.

These comments should not take a position on the ballot measure or make statements opposing it. The measure will be on the ballot so comments opposing the measure won’t matter.

What is needed are some points about how this measure is almost sure to have a massive negative impact on minorities.

Some talking points:

The measure requires a “class” before a person can apply for a “permit” to purchase a firearm. Since this class requires live fire, low income urban residents will have the hardest time finding an approved class.

The required “class” must be taught by police or those approved by police.  If the police in minority areas choose to simply not provide the class, minority residents will be required to find a class far from their home at unlimited expense.

The measure gives police unlimited ability to require any information they want when approving a person for a “permit.”  This discretion has enormous potential for abuse and can be applied selectively.

There are no time limits on the multiple background checks required for a permit and there are no limits on the cost for the “class” that is required. At this time even the sponsors of the measure have admitted they have no answers for these concerns. These issues are certain to impact low income communities disproportionally.

The existing racial statement covers none of these issues.  Please send your comments with your concerns before July 28th to elections.sos@sos.oregon.gov.

The statement, along with additional information and documents, will be shared on the Secretary of State’s website.

07.15.2022

Today the Secretary of  State announced:

“For each ballot measure to be voted on at the General Election, the explanatory statement committee is responsible for preparing an impartial, simple, and understandable statement explaining the measure, not to exceed 500 words. Upon completion of this task the statement is filed with the Secretary of State Elections Division, so that a public hearing on the statement may be scheduled. If a statement receives comments during the public hearing, the explanatory statement committee must meet to review comments and consider revisions to the statement.”

For ballot measure 17, the gun ban ballot measure, the committee will include Elizabeth McKanna, Margaret Olny, and HK Kahng.

McKenna is one of largest donors and lenders to the measure. (The ACLU also donated $10,000.00)

Olny is a lawyer who regularly works for left wing causes. Kahng’s Linkedin page lists him as “Web developer and infrastructure wiz, eager to create, launch and nurture applications that help build organizations and communities by facilitating collaboration , streamlining processes and sharing knowledge.”

UPDATE 07.20.2022 A 5th “neutral” member of the committee was picked from a list provided by the Secretary of State: Judge Lynn Nakamoto.

The first meeting for the anti-gun ballot measure IP 17 committee is scheduled for this Monday at 2pm.

The legislative website currently has all of the committee’s meetings listed at the following URL:

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/citizen_engagement/Pages/NonLegislative_Video.aspx

After the meeting, video of the meeting will be available in the Archive section of the Oregon State legislative website.

According to the Secretary of State: “The committee is not required to take public testimony at each meeting, the Secretary of State’s Office will hold a public comment meeting on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, from 1 – 3 p.m…. Additional information will be publicized when information is available.”

We have been in contact with numerous police departments and Sheriff’s offices. All have agreed that complying with this measure will either be exorbitantly expensive or impossible. None have said they will be offering the “training” required to apply for the permit to purchase that sheriffs and local police will be tasked with administering.

In addition to all the more well known provisions of the measure, most people are unaware that it will ban the new purchase of most shotguns because of the definition of “high capacity magazines.” (Almost all modern tubular fed shotguns are capable of holding more than 10 “mini-shells.”)

Tune in if you can and be prepared to provide comments when that opportunity becomes available.